18 January 2008

I am posting this update on the raw milk legislation action this week. It's from Mark McAfee, director of the Organic Pastures Dairy and Creamery. I'm not sure yet what the upshot is: it sounds like there was some kind of compromise. And it's gratifying to read that Assemblywoman Nicole Parra "read the riot act" to the CDFA.

That, I would have liked to have seen, but Logan has been very sick for three days, and I couldn't go. I suppose I could have taken him, but his runny nose would not have presented the assembly with the picture of health of a child drinking raw milk. (Why call it "raw"? Call it "real"!)

14 January 2008

An update on Wednesday's rally in Sacramento: I am publishing this that I received from Jean Harrah at Deep Roots Ranch. It contains more information about the rally on Wednesday at our state capitol, in support of raw milk.

ASSEMBLY HEARING FOR EMERGENCY AG. BILL TO BE HELD WED. JAN 16. AT STATE CAPITOL

Raw Milk Supporters Urged to Attend and Speak Out

Congratulations to all of our customers and supporters! Your hard work writing letters and making calls has paid off! NOW IS THE OPPORTUNITY OF YOUR LIFETIME TO PROTECT RAW MILK IN CALIFORNIA. There is a meeting by the Assembly Agriculture Committee on Wednesday, January 16th. The Committee is currently scheduled to hear three bills. Pending approval by the State Assembly on Monday, a fourth bill will be added to this list. This bill will propose technical corrections to AB1735, which took effect on January 1st. If these corrections become law, our raw milk will continue to be available.

IT IS ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL THAT YOU BE THERE! We need the impact of a multitude upon these legislators, who will be hearing our side of the story for the first time. This is the most important thing you will do to insure your supply of raw milk for the future. Do whatever is necessary to be there. Take off work, school, reschedule appointments, make it a field trip for your kids.

You will be making history. Otherwise, raw milk may be history.

WHERE: California State Capitol Bldg. Room 4202

WHEN: WED. JAN 16, 2008 - 12 Noon - Meeting begins at 1:30

WHAT TO BRING: Your infants, toddlers, tweens and teens: healthy children speak volumes! Letters you've written over the course of our campaign. (Bring copies to leave there.) A 30-second testimonial - How Raw Milk has Changed My Life Your favorite raw milk t shirt (available for sale on site - $10)

NOTE: For security reasons, do not bring anything you would not bring on an airplane. We will provide banners and signs for you.

OTHER PREPARATION: Before the hearing - Call the office of each member of the California State Assembly Committee on Agriculture and express key message points. Go to http://www.organicpastures.com/ag-assembly-info.htm for information on making calls

PLEASE RSVP at customerservice@organicpastures.com if you plan to attend.

REMEMBER TO CALL EACH ASSEMBLY MEMBER PRIOR TO THE HEARING. Go to http://www.organicpastures.com/ag-assembly-info.htm for contact info and message points.

• • • • • • • • • • •

If you are interested in carpooling from the Santa Cruz area, please contact me [tanabutler at gmail.com] and I will pass your name along to a group who's going.

Pictured here: one of the sweet Jersey cows at Claravale Farm, one of California's two raw milk dairies.

CALIFORNIAOthers have written eloquent and informed pieces about AB (Agricultural Bill) 1735, a sneaky "Trojan horse" piece of legislation as has ever been passed. Amanda Rose wrote about it back in October at The Ethicurean. She says, "Coliform bacteria are a mixed lot. Some are beneficial, some are
pathogenic. This legislation makes no distinction between the two." [Emphasis mine.]

And:

"Raw milk has coliforms. That is simply its nature. That is why it
sours in my refrigerator. The beneficial strains of coliforms, the
other beneficial bacteria, and the immunoglobulins are why I pay more
for raw milk.

"I know that folks at the statehouse think I’m crazy and uninformed. They visit dairies regularly and know that it is increasingly common to find E. coli 0157:H7 in their cows. I am playing “Russian roulette,” they claim.

"But there is something that humans and cows have in common. When we
are living on a diet that God intended for us, our intestines are less
likely to be a breeding ground for pathogenic bacteria. When our gut is
full of beneficial bacteria, it can fight back when we come into
contact with pathogenic bacteria."

There is also David Gumpert's piece at TheCompletePatient.com: "The reality, though, is that it is difficult to educate people about
the true nature of coliform bacteria at varying levels. It’s also
difficult to change legislation immediately after it's been passed.
It’s especially difficult if the legislation was put into effect to
accomplish a very serious long-term goal—namely, to deprive as many
Americans as possible of the opportunity to obtain raw milk."

I have little more to add to the outcry beyond what I have already said here, but would like to direct your attention to something VERY IMPORTANT:Bonnie Powell, aka "Dairy Queen" at The Ethicurean, and deputy editor of Edible San Francisco, got a call from Collette Cassidy at Claravale Farm (one of the only raw dairies in California), alerting everyone to attend a rally on Wednesday in Sacramento. Assemblywoman Nicole Parra will hold a hearing on AB 1735, and your attendance could make a difference. Read Bonnie's talking points, please.

And if you can carpool and get to Sacramento, you might be part of making history. Failure to overturn this bill will effectively kill raw milk in California.

NEW YORKMichael Ruhlman alerted me to Meadowsweet Farm in Lodi, New York, about an hour and a half southeast of Rochester. Meadowsweet Farm, owned by Steve and Barbara Smith, no longer sells raw milk products to the public, but to members of its LLC, a form of community supported agriculture that allows them to bypass the bureaucracy and mindless, uninformed restrictions that the state of New York would impose on them if they were doing business with the public.

The Smiths write: "Since March 2007, the New York Department of Agriculture and Markets
has been trying to pressure us and Meadowsweet Dairy LLC out of
business. For example, they have conducted numerous inspections, seized
products, ordered the destruction of 260 pounds of raw dairy products,
attempted to search our house, issued letters threatening fines and
penalties, and have now issued an order requiring us and Meadowsweet
Dairy LLC to show cause why the Department of Agriculture and Markets
should not shut down the operation and levy fines. That show-cause
order is now set for a hearing and a show down looms over whether the
State’s police power extends to a group of private citizens who produce
and consume their own food of their own choice."

There are two hearings coming up, and the Smiths would love your attendance at those:

January 17, 11 AM
Department of Agriculture and Markets
10B Airline Drive
Albany, NY
(Right next to the airport)